> We can now buy an Arduino board for the price of a computer game, and make a flying drone.

I'm pretty sure you could do this 20 years ago, there just hadn't been that wave of marketing around microcontrollers as a hobby that happened around the time of Make magazine. $2 for a PIC and $45 for a programmer, maybe? Waiting excitedly for the next issue of Nuts & Volts? Idly flipping through the Jameco and Small Parts catalogs? Toolboxes filled with TTL?

The internet is certainly an advantage, but it also ain't too new.

edit: randomly posting the Small Parts catalog so we can reflect on and celebrate what was lost https://web.archive.org/web/20160323004150/http://www.smallp...

NO MINIMUM ORDER

Also, a shout out to American Science & Surplus, off to the suburbs after 84 years.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/13/american-science-sur...

No? Not even remotely. Even besides buying the parts (which were more expensive and, literally, exponentially less capable), the knowhow and training needed wasn't something you could find on the Internet. Drones didn't exist then, that was a fantasy in 2002. The Internet of 2002 was far, far different from what we have now.

True, the choices were more limited, but there is still a trend in that direction again. If you associate tech is with Apple devices for example, you are probably not one dabbling in tech, you are the passive passenger. Doesn't have to be the case, but there is a hype is more about consumer solutions instead of tech itself.

AS&S is, in a relatively literal sense, next door to me. Fun bunch of folks whenever I stop by.

But as a late 70s Gen Xer, I would never trade living through that transition period from pre-Internet to Internet. You can't pay to have had that experience or perspective, and what transpired through those years from BBSes to pre-Web to Web adoption, from technological and sociological standpoints, was _insane_.

Drones only became technically feasible on the shoulders of the mems development for cellphones, so, no. The Lego-if-I-cation of digital hardware is a relatively recent thing.

(Yeah, there was radio shack and Heathkit, but the barriers to entry are MUCH smaller today)

> The Lego-if-I-cation of digital hardware is a relatively recent thing.

That happened in the 80s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms

I was unclear, you’re not wrong, but I meant getting a $5 cpu and a $6 WiFi module and a $5 humidity sensor and a $2 power controller and a $10 lipo battery. The components are like Legos.

Those bricks used to be a discrete components, maybe an op-amp, or a 7400 series chip from TI with maybe two or four logic gates, and they were sold in individual units on peg-board racks at your local Radio Shack.

Sure, we didn't have "drones" in the 80s, since the battery tech and digital integration wasn't there yet to make it feasible. There were radio controlled cars with digital PCM signals, servos for steering, and heavy 6 or 7 cell NiCd battery packs. There were also radio controlled aircraft, but they were generally using an internal-combustion engine, unless they were gliders. These ranged from toy to rather extravagant hobby depending on the size and capability. My neighbor would fly his glider, which had a roughly 2-3 foot wingspan, for what seemed like hours on thermals on a slope behind our houses.

Edit to add: I don't remember the details, but I believe that he told us the radio control was the most expensive part and not much different from what people used in the fancier car kits. The rest was cheap and easily replaced, which was necessary to be light but also to be able to repair after inevitable crashes. Think of a vacuum-formed plastic skin filled with expanded foam, a bit like the structure of a surfboard but with much lower strength.

> I'm pretty sure you could do this 20 years ago

As a kid I sometimes went to a RC airfield here close by. Those things were crazy expensive. And then we're not even talking about model helicopters yet. Those things were not on batteries but on gasoline. As a kid I dreamed of having one, but those were just too expensive to give as a toy to a kid. Nowadays? Buy a drone 'helicopter' for $20. It's really crazy if you compare this to the 90's.

Drones that self hover were not even remotely possible. Or at least not as far as I know, unless you know more than me. And drones with camera's? No way!

> The internet is certainly an advantage, but it also ain't too new.

I remember when as a kid I got stuck programming. No internet, no StackOverflow... Good luck! In a sense it was cool to find solutions yourself, but it definitely wasn't quick! :)

No, you definitely could not do it 20 years ago with hobbyist grade parts. The software basically did not exist and whatever tech there was was strictly hidden behind government arms control restrictions (ITAR) because of fears that the tech could be used in ballistic missiles.

Well yes, but flying drones are not exciting when everybody can build/buy one.

What's interesting is not having a drone, but what you do with them. It's like saying photography is not exciting when everyone has a camera.

It kind of isn't. though.

You shouldn't derive whether or not something is exciting to yourself by its exclusivity. I can't even begin to state how wrong that feels.

That's so subjective. My photography is interesting to me, and draws admiration and interest from almost everyone I share it with, even though they themselves have phones with cameras.

Then you were not really interested in Tech. Just in being in some pseudo exclusive club. I definitely think building your own drone is very exciting.

Just want to chime in and say there's nothing wrong with finding excitement in doing something unique. That drive inside of you has taken people very far I'd imagine, with the obvious tradeoffs.

Don't give up on tech and keep an open mind. It's true that flying drones are not exciting to you, but flying a drone could be a first step in finding something more interesting to do with drones.

Boredom is functional. It can be a guide towards more interesting things so as long as you don't let it run the show. Tolerate it and follow (intelligently) where it takes you, don't avoid it.

I don't know how helpful this will be to you, but it bothered me to see people dismiss your interest because you value doing something unique. Those same judgements held me back for years.

Ask the military planners of the world how exciting drones are. That one little device being dismissed so casually has changed warfare, for all time.

Those people were probably just as excited when NSO's Pegasus became commercially available. For the rest of us, that wouldn't be the case.

Drones have so many applications! I know a guy who builds drones to map out farmer lands. So many applications, so little time.

what a ridiculous statement. it also shows why the whole premise for this post is so misguided.

So you're not interested in tech but in tech no one else has.

The novelty factor IS important. Back in the 90s/00s techies were relatively rare. Being tech-oriented, generally smart but also socially awkward and introverted is an interesting mix - you derive identity and pride from the things that make you special.

Was this the reason I loved tech? No, that's the reason I DID tech. The reason I loved tech is because I believed that tech will make our lives exponentially better. And up to a certain point, it did...